REVIEW: Las Hermanas Palacios (GALA Hispanic Theatre)
Preview
First off, a huge sigh of relief: if you hadn’t heard, GALA Hispanic Theatre was recently hacked and digitally robbed of $250,000, putting the very fate of the theatre in jeopardy. Luckily the tremendous community support of Columbia Heights and DC theatre was able to raise emergency funds, ultimately keeping them afloat until the funds were returned! Just in time, too, for their world-premier production of Las Hermanas Palacios (The Palacios Sisters), a Chekhovian tragedy co-conceived by writer Cristina Garcia and director Adrian Alea. The piece adapts the classic drama “Three Sisters” onto the drama of 1980’s Miami, concurrently dealing with drug wars, waves of migration, and the impending doom of Americana as we knew it. Honestly, it was a cool premise by itself, and it was a show I had my eye out for since last year.
Book
I love a good, well-written tragedy, and Garcia has adapted all the key dramatics from Chekov’s own book succinctly. If you aren’t familiar, both follow the plights of three sisters, each with their own ails, as well as their sole brother and his, on the backdrop of militarized conflict. For Palacios, this conflict is Miami’s status as the epicenter betwixt waves of Cuban migration and Colombian drug cartels. Irinita is the initial sister, mentally bargaining her sudden move from Havana with a once-promising ballet career, introduced to us at a Miami club for her 21st birthday. Already in Miami were her sisters Olga and Maria, and brother Andres. In Cuba, all were part of a wealthy, culturally-refined family, especially present in Irinita’s dancing and Andres’ virtuosity on piano. Now here in Miami during its worst days, they ruminate the fallout of their father’s death a year prior while Andres is working as a club musician in Little Havana. Naturally the club becomes a melting pot of all sorts of characters — some sweet, some savory — and introduces the siblings to new directions in this unfamiliar world. The play explores several complementing topics very well. On the surface, there’s a lot to unpack regarding community among migrants and how it develops when society spits on you, and an obvious nostalgia for the life you once lived. Furthermore, their exploitation at the hands of seedy business owners (and drug cartels) drives this sense of desperation that permeates the audience. In what is arguably Garcia’s most gut-wrenching “twist” (it’s similar in Chekov’s) , the way she approaches the loss of generational wealth amongst working-class families is commendable. [SEMI-SPOILER] A question I had regarding this laid in the modern geography of the Miami area. In the play, the Palacios’ live in Hialeah, characterized as a blue-collar suburb practically on an inland swamp (especially so in the 80s), but are later forced to move to Key Biscayne, which today is home to million-dollar condos and isolated wealth. Could this be an inferred resolution in that they do ultimately get their wealthy, island-living statues back? [SPOILER END] Garcia contends with the original source by expertly adapting a piece that asks much more than it answers. 9/10
Acting
As with any GALA production, expect solid performances from their company of local actors, including Victor Salinas (Andres) and Luz Nicolas (La Varona, the club owner), recently seen together at GALA’s Bano de Luna last year. Salinas particularly stands out as Andres, making the audience hurt with him as he confuses love for morality and struggles to cope with his actions. Of the sisters, each are acted tremendously with subtle, familial inclinations that bend, not break, under the pressures. Yaiza Figueroa is steadfast as the eldest Olga, and arguably the wittiest, breaking tension very rarely with humor but always impeccably timed. Carolina Reyes’s unfurled turn as Irinita is a refreshing debut, and watching her slowly come to terms with her world is spellbinding. My favorite performance, though, has to be Catherine Nunez as the middle sister Maria, whom is dealt the most of the trauma over the course of the show and is magnetic with raw emotion. 8/10
Tech
Beyond Alea’s pitch-perfect direction, I loved a lot of the technical elements. Frank J. Oliva’s single-room set is surprisingly versatile, and Alea makes great use of its sunken couch-pit and kitchen window. However, it really stands out when mobilized by the beautiful lighting work of Hailey Laroe, who utilizes a gorgeous mix of traditional diffuse lighting and sharp-as-a-tack LEDs which emphasize the 80s-ness to high degrees. But what is the 80s without the clothes? Which are rendered with tacky pastels and patterns just as good as you’d expect them to be, thanks to Rodrigo Munoz’s handiwork. 10/10
Viz
Program art introduces the sisters imposed onto a chillwavey-80s-neon-futurepunk grid pattern, which has come to emblemize Miami these days. It works — it doesn’t really tell you much besides a setting, but it works — and the small heading indicating a relation to Chekhov helps. Pre-show staging is Oliva’s verdant home set, blaring 80s Spanish-language pop to set the vibe (Justin Schmitz’s sound design does carry a lot for this show). 7/10
Verdict
Las Hermanas Palacios is a gripping tragedy that explores several unique themes without tiring out.
34/40
